I believe that Muckrakers are correct in doing what they did. America isn't a perfect place, and exposing our nations true colors every now and then definitley won't do any harm. America isn't all bright colors, there are some shades of gray in here too. For instance, Edwin Markham talking about child labor in "Children in Bondage", or Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle", which talked about federal regulation of food and drug practice. As an activist for womens rights, people need to be shown that America isn't all that fair to all of its citizens, and things certainly aren't the way they should be.

What: A schoolteacher/ women’s activist. When: Born in Missoula, Montana, on 11th June, 1880. Died at Carmel, California, on 18th May, 1973. During WW1 and WW2, Bombing of Pearl Harbor, Vietnam WarWhere: Washington D.C. (mostly)Why Important: Jeanette was a women’s rights activist in 1910-1970, and very anti-war. A member of the Republican party, in 1916 Rankin decided to run for Congress. Rankin, who campaigned for universal suffrage, prohibition, child welfare reform, an end to child labor and staying out of the first world war, became the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives. One of her first actions was to introduce a bill that would have allowed women citizenship independent of their husbands. Rankin was very against the war in Germany, and her views on trade union rights, equal pay and birth-control, lost her the Republican Senate nomination in 1918. In 1940 Rankin was elected to the House of Representatives on an anti-war program, and she voted against the war with Japan. In 1968, at the age of 87, she led a women's demonstration against the war in Washington. Results/Effects: She was an important voice for women who didn’t really have a voice at the time. She took initiative and instead of just standing around and working in factories or staying at home all of her life, she went out and tried to make a difference for women.